Closing a Call

After you have provided a solution or workaround to the user for a call, you can change the status of the call to Resolved and close the call.

To Close a Call

1. Display the Call Details window.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the window if necessary, and select one of the following, or their equivalent explorer option.

Close

takes you to the Close Call window. See the steps below for more information.

Close New

closes the current call and opens a new Call Details window, without prompting you to fill in the fields on the Call Close window. Use this button if you want to close a call quickly, and be ready to handle the next call. Typically, this is used for one-off Incidents (that is, those which are not escalated to Problems or Known Errors), or high volume Incidents. If IPK workflow rules are enabled and the system finds a matching workflow rule, the call you are trying to close will be assigned to the group/analyst specified in the rule, and a new Call Details window will be displayed. Close New is disabled if: a call has been resolved and is sent to an analyst or group for closure a knowledge entry is required to be created when calls with a particular IPK status are closed Reason Forced is selected in the IPK Settings (Partitioned) window.

2. Complete the fields on the Close Call window.

Type	Classify the type of issue at call resolution. By default, this field displays the last issue type selected on the main Call Details window before closure. You may leave this unchanged or specify a different type to the one defined when the call was first logged or updated, which is useful if the type of issue has been re-identified after investigation. If you select another type in the Close Call window, the original type selected in the Call Details window will still be used in call searches. If you close and re-open a call, the resolution type you selected is still set as the resolution type for the call, however you can select another resolution type when you resolve the call again.
Configuration Item	Confirm the identification (reference number) of the configuration item that is the cause of the issue logged in this call. This field defaults to the configuration item selected in the Call Details window. A description may also be displayed if it has been specified for the selected config item. You can leave this unchanged or search for and select a different config item. If you select another configuration item in the Close Call window, the original configuration item selected in the Call Details window will still be used in call searches. Selecting a different configuration item in the Close Call window will not replace the configuration item selected in the Call Details window.
Reason	Select the reason for closing the call. The list has been defined by your system administrator. The displayed values can also be defined based on the issue Type. This is configured in the Link Type to Reason window when Reason to Type is selected under Closure Reason Linking in the IPK Settings (Partitioned) window. The system administrator may also make it mandatory for analysts to select a reason other than Unspecified at call closure.
Call Status	Select the status that best describes the status of the call at the time of closure. Resolved closes the call as resolved Unresolved closes the call as unresolved, for example, if the solution provided has not solved the user’s issue, and if there are other calls that are investigating a similar issue. If the call status is set to Open and Resolved, the call can be forwarded, deferred or re-opened.
One Liner	Type a summary of the solution provided to the user.
Resolved/Unresolved	Select a resolution option to indicate whether the call has been resolved or is being closed as unresolved.
Email User	This option is only enabled if Email to Users is selected in the Messaging administration window. Select this option to send an email message to the user who reported the problem, with all the details of the closed call. Selecting this option will not include the details of the Actions and Solutions field unless the actions and solutions have been enabled to be displayed on the Portal through the Visible in Portal option on the Call Details window.
Clone to Knowledge Bank	Select this option to import the details of this call to the Knowledge Bank. Note that you must be licensed for the Knowledge Bank module. This option is not selected by default to prevent a large number of calls being automatically included into the Knowledge Bank.
Experience Base	Select this option to include this call in the Experience Base of previously solved problems. Easy or common calls (such as forgotten passwords) should not be added to the Experience Base, as searches will be more efficient and quicker with a smaller base of calls.
Email Closure Group/Analyst	Select this option to if you have closure groups to let them know a post-resolution review is necessary.

3. Select OK to close the call and close this window. This is the same as double-clicking on the name. Selecting OK New closes the call and opens a new Call Details window. Back to Main returns you to the Call Details window of the current call.

If the call has a linked outage, you will be prompted to close the outage when you close the call. You may choose not to close the outage at this time.

4. The call is closed and the call status changes to Closed and the call is removed from the Calls Outstanding or Escalated Calls window. You can search for closed calls by selecting the Closed or Closed – Resolved filter options on the Call Search window.

Additional Fields when Call Closure Rules are enabled

Closure Comments

If your system is configured for closure comments, and you are authorized for closure comments, you will also see a Comments field, and a Forward list containing analysts or groups, depending on which option is currently selected, to whom you can forward the call.

If you have closure comment rights and you want to forward the call on to another analyst for closure comments, you must highlight the analyst to whom you wish to forward the call and then double-click on the analyst’s name.

Highlighting the analyst in the list and clicking OK will close the call immediately and will not forward the call for comments.

Email Closure Group/Analyst

The Email Closure Group/Analyst option can be used when closure comments are enabled or when a closure rule is set for a specific group to close a call.

The Email Closure Group/Analyst option will be enabled only if:

• The Email Optional at Forward setting is selected for calls in the Administration module

• When closure rules are enabled

• When IPK rules with closure rules are active

1. This option can be selected if you want an email about call closure sent to the analyst or group you have selected in the Forward list when closure comments are enabled.

2. When call closure is by a closure group, selecting this option will email members of the group informing them of call closure.

To Close the Call Yourself

If you want to close the call yourself, click OK.

The closing group for a call is set to the group to which the call was forwarded. If the call was not forwarded to a closing group, the default group of the analyst to whom the call was forwarded becomes the closing group.

Physical Status Values

Forwarded to You for Close

When a call is forwarded to a logging analyst to be closed, the physical state is classified as Forward to You for Close when the call is viewed by the analyst who logged the call

Forward for Comments

When a call is forwarded to a logging analyst to be closed, the physical state is classified as Forward for Comments when the call is viewed by the analyst who resolved the call.

Forwarded to Group For Close

When a call is forwarded to the logging group or closure group to be closed, the physical state is classified as Forward to Group for Close when the call is viewed by the analyst in the Closure Group.

When a call is forwarded to the logging group or closure group to be closed, the physical state is classified as Forward for Comments when the call is viewed by the analyst who resolved the call.

The resolution action and closure comment are added to the call as separate history items.

Closing a Call with Linked Child Calls

A number of calls related to the same issue are often linked as child calls to one parent call. Linking calls in this way is useful because it enables you to close all calls simultaneously when the issue is resolved, rather than closing each call individually. When you close the parent call, you can choose to close all linked child calls. When you select the Close button on a parent call, the Close Child Calls dialog box displays, giving you the option to resolve all linked child calls. The fields displayed on this popup window will depend on whether your system has IPK Streams and IPK Statuses enabled.

1. Select Close on the Call Details window for the parent call.

You can close a parent call by clicking Close New in the main call window. However, only the parent call will be closed, and a new call window will open immediately. You will not see a popup reminder regarding linked calls, and all child calls will remain open.

2. Select Copy workaround to copy the text entered in the Actions & Solutions field of the current call over to the linked child calls. This entry will display in the history of the linked child calls.

3. Select Email attached users if you want to send an email message to all users in the child calls, informing them that their call has been closed.

4. Choose whether you want to close the current call only (that is, the parent call), or both the current call and its linked child calls:

   • Click Yes to close the current call and any linked child calls. ASM will copy any workarounds and/or email the users of these linked child calls if you specified this in the popup window.

   • Click No to close the current call and not any of its linked child calls.

Closing an agreement applied to the call

When a call is resolved, the clock will stop on any agreement attached to the call. If the resolve time is changed by an analyst, the escalations and breaches on the call are not affected. The resolve time and closure time set on a call depend on whether closure rules have been enabled on your system:

• If closure rules are not enabled and a call is resolved, the time of resolve is set to when the call is actually closed. Hence the resolve time and closure time are the same.

The clock will stop on any agreement attached to the call once the call is closed.

• If closure rules are enabled and a call is resolved, the resolve time is set at this point, however the closure time is only set when the analyst/group to whom the call is forwarded (according to the specified closure rule) closes this call. In this case, the resolve time and closure times will be different.

The clock will stop on any agreement attached to the call once it is resolved.

Re-opening a call

Analysts can only re-open a call if they have either the Reopen Resolved Calls or the Reopen Closed Calls privilege.

To re-open the call and make it visible on your Calls Outstanding window with the status Pending Your Action.

1. Search for closed calls using any search method you like.

2. Once you locate the call, select it and display the details.

3. You will see a banner at the top of the details window informing you that the call is closed.

4. Select Re-Open in the banner, or

5. Alternatively, you can click the Re-Open button at the bottom of the screen